Intel i5 8th gen vs 9th gen for audio production

Hey there community, Im new to hackintosh builds but due to my 2011 MacBook pro finally giving out... Here I am. Iv been doing a bit of research and have noticed that for 9th gen processors Intel no longer uses hyperthreading. Now Im no computer expert but from what I understand, hyperthreading splints the cores in half, therefore you have twice as many cores?? Am I right about this? Would I be better off getting a 8th gen i5 over a 9th gen? I use a lot of plugins and virtual instruments for music production simultaneously and I would think that having more threads would benefit me. Once again I am no expert and these are just my assumptions. Please let me know what you guys think about 8th gen vs 9th gen i5 for music production. Also I don't game so I don't care about gaming benefits. Thanks! Also, does anyone have had success getting thunderbolt to work?